


Acting Present

by Fire_Bear



Series: Walking in a Winter Wonderland [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas, Christmas Presents, First Meetings, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 00:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13135110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Lance's sister wants to meet her favourite actor for Christmas - and who should Lance get into an argument with but that same actor. Will 'Jake' agree to meet his sister or will Lance be disappointing his sister instead?





	Acting Present

Lance was too busy staring at his phone to look where he was going, his tired eyes squinting at the screen. He'd asked one of his younger sisters the night before (while he was procrastinating from his studying) what she wanted for Christmas and had gotten the weirdest response ever. _I wanna meet Jake from Jilly and Co_. Sighing in frustration, Lance had begun to text back as he moved forward in the queue, having realised he had left a gap by standing still – and someone bumped into him with such force that he had to catch his phone when it was jolted out of his hands. With a yelp, he straightened again and realised that someone with black hair had barged their way in front of him.

"Hey!" he cried, stepping up to him. "What the hell, dude?!"

The man turned his head slightly, looking at him with narrowed, dark eyes. "What?"

"I was in the queue! You can't just barge into me and-"

"What?" the man repeated. "I didn't. You were standing in the middle of the room – someone else probably bumped into you on the way out."

"Listen, Mullet," said Lance, growing irritated. "There's this thing called 'patience' – ever heard of it?"

"Shouldn't 'ave been on your phone. You do realise that it's really rude to be on your phone when you're waiting to be served, right?"

"I was texting my sister! What if it was an emergency?"

"Then you wouldn't be here, would you?"

Lance tutted. "Fine, Jesus. Merry damned Christmas to you, too, jerk!"

The man fully turned to him, looking furious. "What is your _problem_?!" the man demanded.

Opening his mouth to speak, Lance froze. He'd seen this stranger's face before, glimpsed on TV and in his sister's room. His eyes widened and his mouth moved, trying to get his voice to work. Finally, he managed to squeak, "You're that Jake guy from that Jilly show!"

Grimacing, 'Jake' glanced around. "Keep your voice down!" he hissed. "I'm just here for a coffee! I don't want to be caught by any teenage girls!"

"My sister loves you!" Lance told him, lowering his voice. "She's practically obsessed with that show!"

"Well," 'Jake' seemed to falter. "That's... nice of her?"

"Yeah, I think you're her favourite – she just told me she wants to meet you for Christmas! You gotta do it. I don't want to let her down!"

'Jake's nose scrunched up. "No, thanks. I don't do that kind of thing."

"Oh, please? It'd make her Christmas. You'd be, like, the Christmas fairy. Or... Well, not Santa Claus but whatever. Christmas magic. Whatever." Lance paused. "God, I need coffee," he grumbled to himself, rubbing at his forehead.

When he glanced back up, 'Jake' was frowning at him. "After you insulted me just now?" he demanded. "No way!"

"Ah," said Lance, grimacing. "I'm just a little tired – aren't you?" He looked over the man's face, noting how pale he looked and the dark rings under his eyes. "You look it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" snapped 'Jake'.

"Shit. I mean. Sorry, look, I just say-"

"Forget it," 'Jake' told him, stalking off towards the door of the coffee shop.

"Wait!" exclaimed Lance, hurrying after him. People surged around them, reforming the queue. Mentally, Lance cursed his luck. He caught 'Jake' by the arm. "Wait, c'mon – don't be a Scrooge about this-"

"I have _work_ to go to," 'Jake' snapped, wrenching his arm from his grip. "I'm not about to stay here to be insulted all day."

"I'm trying to apolo-" Lance began but 'Jake' stormed out of the door, letting it slam behind him. Lance winced when it did, rubbing at his head as he realised that he had a headache coming on.

His phone made a beeping noise and he glanced at it, his sister's name on the screen. He grimaced. There was absolutely no way he could tell her who he'd just met.

* * *

That evening, Lance made his way to his theatre group. It was run by an acting couple, Takashi Shirogane and Allura Altea. The two of them had been huge actors – until they'd gotten into a car crash together. Beloved Shiro, the reason Lance was trying to become an actor, had lost his arm and, though he'd gotten a prosthetic and had the support of all his fans, he had retired from acting jobs. Allura had been dismayed that he'd decided to 'waste' his talents so she'd poured what money she had into forming a theatre group, helped by working in conjunction with the Garrison University.

During his time there, he'd gotten along well with both Shiro and Allura, despite being utterly starstruck to begin with. He'd quickly gotten over it and was now at the point where he could teasingly flirt with both of them as he'd once dreamed of doing when he was in high school. They always laughed it off or rolled their eyes. Despite those put-downs, they always helped him with his acting and his vocalisation and he was going to be in a play after the Christmas period as Mercutio while also being the understudy to Romeo.

Excited to get started, Lance rushed up the stairs to the little theatre. He had just reached the door when it open and whacked him in the chest. Crying out, he stumbled backwards, felt his heel going over the top step, felt something grab his wrist and fell forward into someone's arms. He gasped against a firm chest and presumed it was Shiro. Heart hammering from fright, he straightened as he said, "Jeez, Shiro, what's the- Oh. It's you."

For, instead of Shiro, the person who had caught him was, in fact, 'Jake' from the _Jilly_ show. 'Jake's face fell into a scowl; he let Lance go as if he'd been burned. "What're _you_ doing here? Are you following me?"

" _No_ ," said Lance, glowering at him. "Of course not. This is a public place, Mullet."

"Urgh. Just- Whatever. Be more careful."

"You're the one who basically threw the door open!"

"Urgh!" 'Jake' repeated and brushed past Lance on his way down the stairs.

Clicking his tongue, Lance reached out to pull open the door. He stopped when he remembered his little sister's wish and, with a sigh, turned around and dashed back down the stairs. "Hey! Jake!" he shouted, running down the street after him.

The actor stopped and turned, frowning at Lance. When Lance got close enough, 'Jake' folded his arms and said, "I've been in more than Jilly and Co., you know."

"Really?" said Lance, raising an eyebrow. "I've never seen you in anything. What else have you been in, then?"

"Mothman," 'Jake' replied – it took Lance a second to realise that he was naming a film and wasn't just saying he name of a cryptid. "Mothman Two: Mothman's Revenge," 'Jake' continued. "Mothman Three: Return of Mothman and-"

"Let me guess," said Lance, giving 'Jake' a strange look. "Mothman Four: Mothman is Back Yet Again?"

"No – Revenge on Mothman."

"Right. Well. Whatever. Look, I'm sorry about earlier. Can you meet my sister? Please. She's adorable and will basically faint when she sees you so you won't have to deal with-"

"Can't you get this into your head?" 'Jake' snapped. "I'm not going to do it!" He spun on his heel and stamped off, his hands clenched into fists.

Lance was left with a growing sense of guilt and irritation. If he never saw that 'Jake' guy again, he would rejoice.

* * *

"Do you know who I saw today?" Lance asked Pidge as he collapsed onto the couch beside her. She was curled up on one end with her laptop open, her typing slowing as she looked up, refocussing her attention on Lance. His frustration with what had happened with 'Jake' had risen to fever pitch but Hunk wasn't home yet. So he'd decided to talk to his other roommate and friend while he waited for the big man to return.

"Who?" asked Pidge, looking wary. She probably thought he was about to say he'd seen one of his exes, probably Josh who'd been a complete ass to Lance and both his friends. It had taken Lance a couple of weeks to figure that out and had only broken up with him the day before Thanksgiving. Pidge likely thought that he'd take pity on the man and let him back into his life – ha! Not a chance!

"That Jake guy from that Jilly show," Lance quickly told her, scowling at the memory.

"The Jilly and Co. show?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah. Leyla is obsessed with it. And that Jake guy. He's, what, Jilly's boyfriend or something?"

"Lance," said Pidge and stopped to heave a great sigh. "I've told you before, Lance; you need to watch it. It's pretty good."

"It's for kids!" Lance protested.

"But it's a really good LGBT show," Pidge pointed out. "He's not Jilly's boyfriend – he's her older brother. He's been in every single episode. Jilly hasn't."

"What? That makes no sense..."

"There was a season where Jilly did an exchange programme. She was away in a school in England. Every episode while she was there, she'd call her brother over Skype and they'd fill each other in, usually at the end of each one. Her brother would mention random things which made no sense or really interesting stories which had everyone clamouring for more. So the next season, they just had Jake's story while Jilly was away."

"Huh. Weird."

"Yeah, I think Jake's going to get a spin-off show since he's graduating at the end of the season and everyone loves him. It'll follow him in college."

"Why would the kids watch _that_ ?" demanded Lance, annoyed that 'Jake', that rude, horrible, annoying, unfairly attractive guy was going to get such a major acting role. _He_ wanted that.

"It's more aimed at the older audience or the people who've grown up watching it. I mean, the main character's a lesbian and her brother's gay – because the actors are – and the LGBT community adores the show. Kids love it 'cause it's fun and they don't care about sexuality. It's really popular, Lance. Watch it already, dammit."

"Is there a bi character?" Lance asked, pointedly.

Pidge sighed. "No. Not yet."

"Then I'm not watching it. Besides, 'Jake' is a dick."

There was a pause as Pidge stared at him. "Jake is basically an angel, Lance. What're you talking about? You've never even watched it so how would you know what Jake's like?"

"No, I mean, the actor. He's a jerk – he hit me with a door!"

" _Oh_ ," said Pidge. "You mean Keith Kogane."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. I'd have thought you'd have known about him – he's Shiro's best friend. Everyone says he's gonna be the best man at his and Allura's wedding."

"What?!" exclaimed Lance, shooting upright from his slouched position. "I thought _I_ was gonna be the best man!"

"Really?" said Pidge, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Sheesh, fine. Kick a man while he's down."

"Fans say Kogane's really nice, too. So... why is he a jerk?"

Clicking his tongue, Lance gave in. "I may have accidentally insulted him while I was half-asleep, stressed about Christmas presents and developing a headache."

"Uh huh?"

"And we had an argument. Just a small one."

"And?"

"Leyla wants to meet him for Christmas."

"So you asked him... after arguing with him?"

"Yeah! It's not for me – he didn't need to be such a... such a-!"

"What about the door?"

"He was at the Voltron theatre," Lance told her. "I came up the stairs and he opened it from inside and just... whacked me. He didn't even apologise! He just said" – Lance let his face drop into an ugly expression and mimicked Keith's voice – "'Be more careful'." When he spotted Pidge's raised eyebrows, he slumped, shrugged a shoulder and said, "I may have been going up the stairs a bit fast. But he still coulda said sorry! And what was he even doing there?!"

Pidge tapped at her laptop. "Shiro called him there."

"Wha-? How'd you know that?!"

"I like the show, Lance, remember?" said Pidge, looking amused. "And he's been in some cryptid films. He's pretty awesome. I follow his private Twitter and he was Tweeting about it. Shiro called him there. Apparently, he's going to do a musical while he's waiting for the spin-off show. Well, he didn't say he's waiting for it but there's going to be a musical and there'll be auditions."

"Grease," Lance informed her, though he was frowning at a point on the couch. "That's so unfair! A professional actor – he'll be sure to get Danny. That's the part I want! Tsk. I bet he's not even that good!"

Shaking her head, Pidge smacked his arm. "You're an idiot. You've said yourself that you think he's a great actor."

"What're you talking about? I've not seen anything he's in! Not watched the show – remember?"

"We've _watched_ those Mothman films he was in, remember? I think we'd been watching other B-movies and you'd been drinking. But it was the one where you said the actor in the Mothman costume was an amazing actor. Something about his delivery of lines and his actions. You were gushing about him for a while and-"

"Argh!" Lance shouted, drowning out what Pidge was saying. He'd just remembered what Pidge was talking about and was alarmed that the person he'd been praising – the only good thing about the film – was, apparently, _Keith Kogane_ , horrid jack-ass extraordinaire. Falling back on the couch, Lance covered his face with hands. "Fuck," he said. "I'm never going to get that Danny part."

He felt Pidge patting his knee. "I think you should probably focus on what you're gonna get Leyla for Christmas.

Lance groaned loudly.

* * *

A few days later, Lance's parents decided to decorate their entire house for Christmas. Every single member of the house was preoccupied with clubs or at friends' parties so they could do it without anyone getting in their way. Leyla's thing – a club's party? – was cancelled and Lance's parents dropped her off at his apartment for him to look after her. When she got there, Leyla looked at Lance hopefully and his heart sank. He was going to end up disappointing her.

An idea occurred to him, prompted by the fact that he had to go to the theatre at some point that day for a costume fitting. If Shiro knew Keith...

So, dragging his little sister with him, he made his way to the Voltron theatre. She was chattering into his ear as they walked hand in hand, thick gloves protecting them from the cold. A pink hat with a pom-pom on top wobbled as Leyla walked, pigtails sticking out from under it. Her thick coat made her bulge and had Lance sniggering at her.

They had just started a nudging fight as they reached the bottom steps when the door opened. Lance looked up, grin still on his face – and froze, shocked. Somehow, instead of Shiro or Allura or anyone else from the acting troupe appearing in the doorway, it was Keith 'Jerkface' Kogane. And Leyla was with him this time. Her Christmas wish was about to come true.

Sure enough, Leyla spotted him and gave an inarticulate yell followed by a short scream. Lance winced and leaned away from her slightly, tightening his grip on her hand so she couldn't jump on top of 'Jake'. He looked back to Keith, wondering what the actor was going to do. Keith looked back at him, clearly surprised. His eyes darted to and fro, taking in Lance and his sister. Then, instead of the scowl Lance expected, Keith smiled and said, in a soft voice, "Hello?"

It was way too much for Lance's little bi heart. The smile completely transformed Keith's face. He no longer looked like some sort of evil gremlin out to spoil Lance's Christmas. Instead, he looked very much like a handsome prince or a dashing knight or the picture perfect superhero. Leyla's hand slipped from Lance's grip and she bounded up the steps. As Keith turned his attention to her, Lance allowed himself to clutch at his chest.

After a moment to gather himself, he shook himself from his swirling thoughts to find that Leyla was hopping up and down in front of Keith. "Oh em gee, oh em gee!" she was shouting as Keith looked a little pained. "This is so cool!" Suddenly, she turned to look at Lance who hastened to climb the steps to reach them. "Lance! You didn't tell me _Keith Kogane_ went to your theatre group!"

"Oh, uh, I didn't know that, either," Lance said, glancing towards Keith whose eyes narrowed minutely. "I've never seen him before."

Keith rolled his eyes at him before turning his attention back to Leyla. "Yeah. This is our first time meeting..."

"Oh, wow! Oh, cool! Can-Can you sign my Jilly notebook?!" Leyla swung her backpack off her back and began to search for it. "Oh em gee. So cool. Lance, Lance, thank you!"

Lance shifted uncomfortably. "What're you talking about? I didn't do anything."

"If you hadn't brought me here, I would never have met him!"

"Eh?!" exclaimed Lance, acting over-the-top offended. "Have you no faith in your brother, young miss?!"

Leyla giggled. She handed her notebook over to Keith who wrote a quick message and signed it. He handed it back with a small smile. "It's nice to have met you," he told her, sounding sincere. "But I really have to be-"

"Is it true you're gonna be in the musical here?" Leyla asked before he could finish. "Are you gonna be Danny? Lance wants to be Danny but you're a way better actor than Lance!" She finished by sticking her tongue out at Lance – it let him know she was only teasing.

It still hurt.

He managed to look amused instead, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, right. Kogane's too busy being _Jake_. Right?" he added to Keith, smirking at him.

Keith's eyes narrowed. "I'm auditioning," he said to Leyla without shifting his gaze from Lance. "I expect I'll get it – Shiro thinks so."

That hurt more.

Lance could feel his heart hammering, could feel his breathing growing laboured as he forced away his emotions. "Oh? Well, we'll just have to wait and see." A thought occurred to him and he grinned. "Wanna make a wager on this?"

"What?" Keith demanded.

"We both know we'll get into the show. How about, if _I_ get the role of Danny, _you_ have to come to rehearsals dressed as Mothman."

Keith frowned. "Not the whole time," he corrected. "Just once."

"Fine."

"And, if I get the role, _you_ have to dress as Bigfoot for one rehearsal."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Right."

Leyla giggled and they turned away from each other. "Can I come to the auditions?" she asked Lance, grinning up at him. "I wanna see who gets it."

The two actors looked at each other. Then Keith turned back to Leyla, smiled at her, and said, "I have to go now. It was nice meeting you." He hurried off, leaving Lance at the top of the stairs, glaring after him, hands clenched into fists.

* * *

All through the apartment, not a creature was stirring – except for Lance who crept along the hall to the living room. Once there, he slowly pushed the door open, stopping it halfway before it could creak. He squeezed his upper body through the space and peeked through. The TV was on with Netflix paused midway through what looked like a Stranger Things episode, asking if they were still there. Beside it, tucked into the corner, a Christmas tree crouched. It only came up to Lance's stomach but they'd draped it with tinsel, cheap lights (half of the bulbs not working) and baubles.

Pidge was on the couch, head fallen back onto the armrest and slanket covering her. Her laptop was still open, the glare casting her in sharp relief against the darkness cloaking the room. She didn't move, breathing steadily. A snorting snore escaped her and, stifling his giggles, Lance retreated, pulling the door closed but not letting it click completely shut.

He tip-toed back along the hall and pushed open Hunk's door to see his situation. That door was, thankfully, silent so he was able to silently step into the well-lit room. The larger man was slumped over his desk, head set down beside his open laptop. Hunk had been in the middle of writing an essay, due sometime that week, and Lance carefully made his way across the room, dodging creaky floorboards. Once across, he reached over Hunk's shoulder and scrolled back up until he found the large ' **Conclusion** ' at the head of the section. Knowing he was finished, Lance hopped across the room to grab a blanket and returned to drape it over Hunk's shoulders. Then he left him to his sleep, making a mental note to give both his friends neck rubs in the morning.

With the confirmation that both his roommates were fast asleep, he quietly went through his beauty treatments in the bathroom and returned to his room with a face mask on. His laptop was partially open on his bed in the dim room, only his fairy lights that were draped across a shelf and the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the ceiling providing any light. He closed his room door as quietly as he could before clambering onto the bed and drawing the covers over him. Finally, Lance plugged in his earphones, opened the laptop properly, took a breath and paused with his hand hovering over the mouse pad.

"Just research," he murmured to himself, despite his hammering heart.

Then he hit the play button on the video.

_"The Krindel family – Mom and Dad and Jake and Jilly-"_

_"Enough of that! This show's about me, Jilly – let's go!"_

**Author's Note:**

> Those last two lines are supposed to be two different tunes for the intro - but I didn't know quite what to put for it, whatever.
> 
> You may notice that this is a start of another series. I had a lot of thoughts for what would happen after this - because this got away from me and they were meant to make up at the end of it. That... did not happen.
> 
> P.S. The Voltron theatre group upload some videos of their performances for people to see and get interested in the group. Guess what Keith is doing while Lance is watching videos on his laptop! :D


End file.
